My Venture into GUE - Another view

[boulderjohn]

I really don't know why you were given a hard time about this while volunteering and going to the effort to get good shots.

Because maintaining trim is the only thing that matters in diving. If one could imagine a scenario in which a diver had to choose between maintaining trim and living, then the choice is clear: maintain trim and die with dignity.

 

[ScubaFeenD]

.....What follows is my opinion and observations only, and generated an epiphany for me. On our boat were several GUE fundies graduates. In spite of my sickness, I was able to listen and observe intermittently their execution of the GUE standards and procedures. First, there was an incredible level of intensity. The ?stress? ?tension? was so thick you could feel it. They executed the pre-dive checklist (G.U.E.E.D.G.E). I was surprised to see everyone in hoods to dive in 70F water, but it was part of the uniform. They broke into 3-person teams and splashed.

.....Once out of the water, there were no smiles. Some withdrew into themselves, disappointed in their ‘performance’. Others seemed hypercritical of each other, “You didn’t do x . . .” or “You should’ve done y.” The demeanor was of a very unhappy group of people. Really? You’re in South Florida, on a long-weekend vacation, diving beautiful 70F water that is fairly clear, and you come out dejected and unhappy?

Note – it was later explained that the group was going through rapid phases of the “forming-storming-norming-performing” of team-building, and that they got over it rapidly and dived as a solid team afterward. I was also told that it takes a few months to a year for new graduates to not be so intense. Okay, I’ll buy that; I understand team building. But, Really? You’re in South Florida, on a long-weekend vacation, diving beautiful 70F water that is fairly clear, and you come out dejected and unhappy? Is it all worth it?

My classmates were equally dejected and unhappy. At that point I decided, I do not want to dive like this.

Ive taken some time to think about this part of your account, and I feel that I should muster some type of response to this since I was there.

I think you need to take DIR diving and GUE training for what it is and ignore everything else. It, in my mind, isnt the answer to all of divings problems. It isnt happiness in classroom form. GUE classes arent all rainbows and smiles, and the kool-aid we speak of isnt Unicorn blood.

What DIR is is an amazing system for diving, ultimately scalable, and completely well thought out, and GUE classes are the only really good way to get this training. Further, because of the scalability extremely high skill levels(compared to other classes) are demanded. That can lead to a lot of stress, as can figuring out how to take what you have learned an actually apply it to ocean dives and conditions. This is far worse for people (like me) with so few dives as the newer of us try to take high standards and lots of education and mold them to conditions. Me, and my dive buddies, believe highly that there is no replacement for the DIR system, in terms of its team cohesiveness, situational awareness, and acuity of skill.

Every dive I have ever been on since Fundamentals has been fun-without exception. Even if I get frustrated I still feel I have some control of myself in the water, and I never ever have a moment that I dont think I know how to get out of. DIR gives you that freedom. Nothing is perfect, and I assume that if you see divers that are unhappy then you are just seing humans be human. The great part, however, is that DIR buddies are usually extremely close friends and the team can sort out frustrations and issues--it is more than just a team underwater type of thing. If you want to see a bunch of people beat themselves up over perfection while doing something they love you should come meet some of my colleagues from medical school.

What you didnt see later that week (friday, sat, and sunday) were the high fives and hugs upon surfacing. That comes from a comfort level you perhaps havent reached yet, but is attainable through DIR. When dives go off perfectly (as they have been more and more with me) such as when amazing sites were seen, communication and awareness are high, and skills are executed extremely well, then there is no sense of accomplishment comparable.

It is very sad that you walked away feeling so let down by this form of diving. It's true, it isnt easy. But, like most things in life, if it were easy it wouldnt be worth having. However, its not the fact that all DIR divers excel beyond any other diver, its that most just dont tolerate the acceptance of mediocrity and so we (im kind of speaking for myself here more than for the community) always try and become better and better WHILE enjoying everything the underwater world has to provide. I hope you continue to dive with GUE/DIR divers and get to see what the real worth of the classes, and practice, and training are: comfort and fun.

Regards,
Tim

 

[Lobzilla]

Ive taken some time to think about this part of your account, and I feel that I should muster some type of response to this since I was there.

I think you need to take DIR diving and GUE training for what it is and ignore everything else. It, in my mind, isnt the answer to all of divings problems. It isnt happiness in classroom form. GUE classes arent all rainbows and smiles, and the kool-aid we speak of isnt Unicorn blood.

What DIR is is an amazing system for diving, ultimately scalable, and completely well thought out, and GUE classes are the only really good way to get this training. Further, because of the scalability extremely high skill levels(compared to other classes) are demanded. That can lead to a lot of stress, as can figuring out how to take what you have learned an actually apply it to ocean dives and conditions. This is far worse for people (like me) with so few dives as the newer of us try to take high standards and lots of education and mold them to conditions. Me, and my dive buddies, believe highly that there is no replacement for the DIR system, in terms of its team cohesiveness, situational awareness, and acuity of skill.

Every dive I have ever been on since Fundamentals has been fun-without exception. Even if I get frustrated I still feel I have some control of myself in the water, and I never ever have a moment that I dont think I know how to get out of. DIR gives you that freedom. Nothing is perfect, and I assume that if you see divers that are unhappy then you are just seing humans be human. The great part, however, is that DIR buddies are usually extremely close friends and the team can sort out frustrations and issues--it is more than just a team underwater type of thing. If you want to see a bunch of people beat themselves up over perfection while doing something they love you should come meet some of my colleagues from medical school.

What you didnt see later that week (friday, sat, and sunday) were the high fives and hugs upon surfacing. That comes from a comfort level you perhaps havent reached yet, but is attainable through DIR. When dives go off perfectly (as they have been more and more with me) such as when amazing sites were seen, communication and awareness are high, and skills are executed extremely well, then there is no sense of accomplishment comparable.

It is very sad that you walked away feeling so let down by this form of diving. It's true, it isnt easy. But, like most things in life, if it were easy it wouldnt be worth having. However, its not the fact that all DIR divers excel beyond any other diver, its that most just dont tolerate the acceptance of mediocrity and so we (im kind of speaking for myself here more than for the community) always try and become better and better WHILE enjoying everything the underwater world has to provide. I hope you continue to dive with GUE/DIR divers and get to see what the real worth of the classes, and practice, and training are: comfort and fun.

Regards,
Tim

Tim,

I think that Jax tried to express in a polite way what I felt the entire weekend:

A lot of attitudes displayed by those who credited themselves with a "comfort level you perhaps haven't reached yet" was less than ambassadorial for the cause of GUE/DIR.

Can we leave it at that?


PS: Could you please post your dive count so we can get a feeling for when we should have reached that comfort level - or have traded our fins for golf clubs.

 

[ScubaFeenD]

Tim,

I think that Jax tried to express in a polite way what I felt the entire weekend:

A lot of attitudes displayed by those who credited themselves with a "comfort level you perhaps haven't reached yet" was less than ambassadorial for the cause of GUE/DIR.

Can we leave it at that?

Well Im sorry you feel that way. I dont know what you were looking for, or what you expected, and its regrettable that you are basing that on a slice in time, but we can leave it wherever you want.

PS: Could you please post your dive count so we can get a feeling for when we should have reached that comfort level - or have traded our fins for golf clubs.

111. I suspect you wont need anywhere near this many to actually become comfortable if you let yourself become so.

 

[Tug]

Tim,

I think that Jax tried to express in a polite way what I felt the entire weekend:

A lot of attitudes displayed by those who credited themselves with a "comfort level you perhaps haven't reached yet" was less than ambassadorial for the cause of GUE/DIR.

Can we leave it at that?


PS: Could you please post your dive count so we can get a feeling for when we should have reached that comfort level - or have traded our fins for golf clubs.

Are you going to the meeting Thursday or Sea Rovers? Give me a shout either way.

 

[liuk3]

In your experience.

Last year I volunteered to film a class. This was a tech 1 class, not a fundies class, but I digress.

In trying to get the best camera angles as the students struggled with their various instructor-induced failures, I did all kinds of contortions. I twisted this way and that, trying to get the camera in the best possible place for the best possible angle.

When we debriefed that evening, I felt pretty good about the results--we could really see what was happening for the most part. The instructor was critical, though. He noticed that on a number of occasions while I was filming I had broken trim, and I was essentially reprimanded in front of the students for doing so.

I don't think I will be doing any volunteer camera work in the near future.

Whose GUE Tech 1 class was this? When I volunteered to film Bob Sherwood's GUE Tech 1 class, he made it abundantly clear to me that the priority was to capture good student footage. I definitely broke trim and contorted my body all over the place as you must have in the class you filmed. Bob never once gave me any crap for it. His priority was the welfare of his students, not the dive capabilities of a volunteer. He was also appreciative of the time and effort I spent volunteering. Steve Millington has also been nothing but grateful for the help whenever I volunteered to film his GUE Fundamentals classes and has never berated my diving during class. I can also clearly say that I am very very far from being a perfect diver, but I have fun and have enjoyed the friends I've made through the GUE system.

That instructor you volunteered for was a douche. Sorry for the experience, they're not all like that.

 

[drydiver]

Jax,

Like you, I focused on the various issues I struggled with during class and after class, I concentrated on the details of specific lessons learned. Looking back, my biggest take away from fundies was greater awareness.

One example is awareness about why I configure my gear the way I do and no, not because someone told me to do it a specific way. During and immediately after class, I was a bit stuck in the middle of the trees, it was not until some time after, when I began to see the benefits of what I learned in class in real life diving situations, that I saw the view of the forest.

Maybe you recall, I blew my eval dive, trainwreck. Maybe I am a little thick, but I went back for more punishment quickly and redid the eval dive the next month to get the rec pass and going back for more this year to try for the tech pass.

My recommendation is that you don't rule out anything, you never can tell where the path will take you . . . as for the fun bit, no way in hell you are gonna be able to convince me there's no fun in it.

 

[boulderjohn]

Whose GUE Tech 1 class was this?

Sorry--it was UTD.

 

[BigBubbaJ]

Because maintaining trim is the only thing that matters in diving. If one could imagine a scenario in which a diver had to choose between maintaining trim and living, then the choice is clear: maintain trim and die with dignity.

If you are talking about the video you shot of my Tech 1 class... I don't remember any of that. Not to say it didn't happen.I just don't recall it.
But the video footage was actually kind of good.

 

[BigBubbaJ]

That instructor you volunteered for was a douche. Sorry for the experience, they're not all like that.

As someone who was there, I'm going to go ahead and say this is not true. Sometimes it's all a matter of perspective.